Chapter 15

John sat back and hit ‘Enter’ on the computer, saving the data from the current experiment. He smiled as he examined the experimental apparatus. He was satisfied that he had finally finished taking data. It was the last run of the experiment. There was more than enough data to explain the effects of light upon liquid droplets. He shutdown the laptop and closed it.

Leaning back in his chair, he considered the next steps to take in becoming Dr. Carter. In a few days he would leave town and then begin writing his dissertation. He felt like it would only take him a couple of months to finish it. All of the data analysis had already been completed and the results were very interesting. His dissertation wouldn’t be long, but it would constitute a valuable contribution. His professor and other committee members were already suitably impressed with his work.

He would graduate within the next year and that fact actually represented a significant problem for him. He had a lifetime of funding. The question was where he would go to from here. He knew he couldn’t stay in Austin and live any kind of private life. He was known to almost everyone in town and people reacted to his presence in one of two ways. Either they ran to him to thank him or they ran away in fear that something awful was going to happen to them if they stayed.

If he left, what would he do about Betsy? She wasn’t about to leave here and travel from place to place like a gypsy. He knew that he couldn’t stay much longer in Austin and he didn’t want to leave her behind. He guessed it was time to talk to Mrs. South again. She would give him good advice.

He packed up his laptop computer and set it to the side. When he was ready to leave town, he’d come by and pick it up. For now, it would be safe in his office. All of the equipment in the lab was off. He could leave now, but he felt compelled to just stay where he was.

Glancing at the desk, he noticed the cold fusion paper in the customary spot. He picked it up and read it again. Again, his mind turned to the problem of what geological process could create a cold fusion reaction. He decided that once he had become Dr. Carter, he would work on this problem. He wouldn’t have to justify his time to anyone since he was fully funded.

He felt the urge to leave and set the paper back in the customary spot. Four years of reading this paper and he was no closer to a solution. He left the room carrying his walking stick. He took his time locking the door. The hallway was empty, but he could hear the professors giving lectures in the classrooms. He smiled as he watched a professor explain the right-hand rule to a class of undergraduates. Anyone, except a physicist, would think the guy had lost his mind by the way he was moving his hands.

He opened the door leading out of the building only to run into Officer Rickert. Officer Rickert stopped and said, “Hello, John, I was on my way to see you.”

“You were?”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

John nodded an acknowledgment and asked, “Do you mind if we walk while we talk?”

“No problem.”

The two men headed towards the center of the campus. John broke the silence by asking, “Have you noticed that things seem to be a lot more violent in town lately?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. We’ve been watching you for a while now and we’ve noticed that the violence seems to center around you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you show up, and bad things happen.”

John nodded as he listened. He replied, “Do you think I’m causing them?”

“No. We know better than that. The reason we’ve been following you is that we know bad things will happen. We can see that you are not causing them, but you seem to go to where they occur.” Officer Rickert walked along for a moment before adding, “We’ve been wondering if you are actually the target.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. It seems like amongst all of the normal activities, there are a few that seemed to be targeted at you specifically. Everyone else that is hurt is an innocent bystander that is being used as bait. They are hurt just to keep you in the area. In the last shootout that you were around, the majority of bullets were aimed at you.”

“You know that if I came to you with that proposition, you’d say that I was going paranoid,” John said and then gave a nervous laugh. He countered, “Probably the reason the majority of shots were in my direction was because I was exposed the most.”

“Hey, you were unarmed and not shooting at them. They should have been shooting at us, not you.”

John walked along for a minute without saying a word. Finally, he asked, “What do you recommend?”

“You might want to get out of town for a while.”

“Are you asking me to leave?”

“I’m only suggesting that you might want to leave before you get hurt. If there is some kind of evil force after you, then it might be wise to hide from it for a while.”

John was about to reply when a shot rang out. He looked around and saw a kid lying on the ground in an open area. He dropped his walking stick and charged out to the kid’s location. As he approached, he could tell that the kid was wounded in the leg. More shots rang out and dirt kicked up around him. He grabbed the kid and pulled him behind a water fountain. The whole time more shots were fired. He ducked down behind the fountain and ripped his shirt. He quickly put a tourniquet around the kid’s leg above the bullet wound.

He looked up and saw another person fall to the ground. Officer Rickert ran out and pulled the woman to a safe location. No shots were fired. After a short quiet, another shot rang out and another person fell. It was a woman. John ran to her and pulled her to a safe location. More shots had been fired as he had run to her. He felt a sting in his leg, but ignored it while dealing with the woman. He examined her and saw she had been shot in the abdomen. She had lost consciousness. The only thing that would save her was pressure on the wound until an ambulance arrived. He pulled off her shirt and used it to press down on the wound. Although it might have embarrassed her in other circumstances, she wasn’t in shape to notice. John noted to himself that it was good that she had been wearing a bra.

He looked out around the post behind which they were hiding. Another shot rang out which was quickly followed by a barrage of pistol shots. He could tell by the sounds of the shots that it was the police taking out the shooter. He heard Officer Rickert call out, “All clear, get those ambulances in here.”

John shouted, “I’ve got a bad one here. A woman has been shot in the abdomen and there’s lots of blood. The one by the fountain has a leg wound with a tourniquet on it. He can wait a minute, this one can’t!”

His surroundings darkened as a large shape cast a shadow over him. He looked up in time to hear, “Hero! Looks like you saved another one.”

“Hi, Harry. Take care of her. I’ll go over to the fountain until someone else shows up. The kid over there is probably very scared,” he said. He stepped back and watched as Harry took over for him. He was always amazed at how confidently and calmly Harry was able to work.

“Sure thing, Hero. You might want to get treated yourself. Looks like you took another one in the leg,” Harry replied.

“Oh, shit! I didn’t even notice.”

“I know. You never do.”

John went over to the fountain and found the kid sitting with his back against the wall. He checked the tourniquet and sat down next to the kid. He asked, “How are you doing?”

“My leg hurts and I’m scared shitless. Other than that, I’m fine.”

“Good,” John replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. Opening it, he cut his pants to expose his own wound. It was a simple in and out wound in the fleshy part of his calf. It wasn’t bleeding that bad, so he knew it hadn’t hit anything vital. He glanced over at the kid and said, “You’ll be alright now. Harry is over there with the ambulance. He’ll take the woman there to the hospital. Before then, another ambulance will be here. They’ll take care of you.”

The kid started shaking and asked, “How can you be so calm?”

“Easy, it’s not my first time getting shot.”

Officer Rickert walked over to John and sat down next to him. He handed over the walking stick that John had dropped when he charged after the first victim. John looked like hell. Having lost his shirt, the scars on the upper half of his body stood out. One pant leg was missing where he had cut it off. More scars were visible. Officer Rickert looked over at the kid and asked, “Are you okay?”

The kid nodded his head, but he looked very pale. John looked at him and said, “Hey, lie down and rest your feet up on my good leg. You’re going into shock. Don’t worry. It’s a natural reaction to what you’ve been through.”

The kid did as John had told him. Officer Rickert shook his head at the care John showed the kid. He said, “The press is here.”

“Damn.” He didn’t want to deal with the press. They had taken to following him around in hopes of catching a good news story. It looked like they had been lucky today.

“Don’t worry. We won’t let them anywhere near you.”

“Thanks. I couldn’t handle them right now.”

Officer Rickert sat there for a minute as he watched the emotions on John’s face. He then asked, “Did you think about what we were discussing earlier?”

“I haven’t had much time to do any thinking, but I’ believe you’re right. Who ever it was, shot at me almost the entire time. He didn’t even shoot in your direction when you went out and got that woman. He only shot someone else when I wasn’t available,” answered John. He thought about the advice Officer Rickert had given him. He continued, “I was planning on leaving town in a few days anyway. I think I’ll leave town tomorrow.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re leaving.” Officer Rickert looked up and saw the ambulance coming. He nudged John and said, “Here comes George.”

“George is okay. He’s very methodical.”

“Isn’t that another way of saying slow?” laughed the policeman. George was often the butt of jokes within EMS circles. George recited the procedures for everything he did while he worked.

The ambulance stopped and the driver got out. George walked around the front and exclaimed, “Hero! Nice to see you again.”

“Hi, George. Take care of the kid first. He’s going into shock and has a tourniquet on his leg.”

“No problem,” George replied. He went to work on the kid while the driver got out the gurney. George worked slowly and carefully. He had a habit of talking to himself as he worked. Usually, his monologue was a recitation of the steps that were to be taken.

John looked over at Officer Rickert and laughed at the look on his face. He joked, “You get to ride in the back with him!”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you weren’t a nice person?”

John nodded and said, “Don’t worry; I’ll ride to the hospital with them. You’ve probably got a ton of paperwork to fill out.”

Officer Rickert stood and replied, “Don’t remind me. You have it easy. You get to be hero and then leave. I have to stay and fill out reports.”

The driver came over to John and looked at the bandage over the wound. John had wrapped it with the part of the jeans he had cut off. He asked, “Is your first aid good enough to get you to the hospital?”

“As always.”

“Well, I’ll let you ride up front with me. I’ll appreciate the company and the fact that I won’t have to listen to him talk to himself.”

John laughed and said, “I know what you mean. I’ve dealt with him before.”

Officer Rickert started to walk away and then turned to look at John. He said, “Give my regards to Betsy. I’m sure she’ll be meeting you at the hospital.”